Sometimes unexpected choices lead to immense fortunes
by LilyAnnK91
Summary: This is my first ever ff so please help me out. After Ep24 season 7. They got out of the bank alive but the wedding has yet to take place... This disregards all later seasons and introduces some original characters. Jemily ff! There is some bashing at the beginning and later from Garcia, the others come around. Updates once/twice. Sorry 4 delay will update soon
1. Where did I go wrong?

"How could I be so stupid? How could I let my guard down so easily? I need to leave, I don't care how much it's going to hurt everybody…I need air…" murmured Emily angrily. She was trying to run away from Morgan and hide her teary eyes. Nobody could ever know of her sorrows and regrets.

"Hey Em, are you okay? Aren't you happy for them?" asked Morgan smiling.

"Of course, I am, I'm just tired and you know emotional…It's that time of the month" replied quietly Emily.

"Don't worry, I get it TMI. Listen, why do you think it took JJ so long to accept his offer? She gave him two kids and is a mother. The only other person who can understand her prediction is Hotch, but he was married when Jack was born."

Emily stayed quiet, she could not let him in on her best guarded secret. Not now, not ever, he would only create more problems for her. "Maybe she didn't feel ready. Not every mother feels the need to marry the father of her child. That view is pretty paternalistic and obsolete".

"Why should it be a paternalistic view? Her kids deserve to have married parents. Maybe you see it differently because you come from a different life and social condition. You grew up rich and never wanting for anything, why don't you go fuck yourself and stop and get off your mighty horse for once." screamed Derek, getting flustered and angry with her subtle accusations.

"What do you really know? Only what I have let you see. Never talk about my past and presume of knowing everything. Just because two people have children, it doesn't mean that they are in love with each other…Go to hell!" she screamed and got up to leave. She never looked back to see him shaking his head, she just left the room and got up to go to the elevator. She even rejected the incoming call from London, she was in no mood to answer his request for her to move there and guide her own Interpol team. As soon as she got in, she called Alice telling her to go home without problems because she was going home and she would get Mckenzie from school. She was able to end the call before getting out of the elevator and crashing into Garcia.

"Hey Garcia! Where are you running of to?"

"Oh hey Emily! I am so excited, I ran down to call mrs Jareau and try to organize a surprise for JJ. She deserves it after everything. I am too busy right now. Sorry but I have to go. I am so so happy." She squealed, hugged Emily so tight she could hardly breath and left skipping inside the elevator.

Later that day she was spending the afternoon at the Natatorium Center in downtown Washington, cheering on for one of the girls from the Washington International School. At one point she got a call from David Rossi and had to leave the pool because of the noises.

"Why are you calling? Is something wrong? Do we need to come into work? Hotch promised us a free weekend" rambled Emily.

"No, no I was calling to ask your help. I am offering my home to Garcia and Sandy Jareau to surprise JJ and Will with a surprise wedding tomorrow."

"Oh, that is fantastic"

"Are you in bambina? Can you help us? You know Jennifer the best and could help us so much"

"Listen Dave, I am sorry, but I am busy right now and will be for today and tomorrow. I can't come and help you, I might be able to make it tomorrow night, but I can't promise you anything right now".

"Emily please, I know you think you are in love with JJ, but you don't understand that you would ruin her life, you are not made to be a mother, you told me the same after telling me about the abort in Rome. Please be careful! I will see you tomorrow." And he cut off the call before she could answer his horrible accusations.

She just decided to stop thinking about them and started to move back into the building when her phone started ringing again, she looked at the screen and saw that it was an incoming call from Easter. She decided to answer and explain to him that she could never jump on a plane and move to London, no she could never destroy her daughter's teenagerhood.

"Good afternoon Clyde, how can I help you?"

"You are a hard woman to find Emily, I have been calling you for a long time. I wanted to offer you a job, it comes with less field hours and a larger paycheck…"

"Clyde, I understand your offer, but I won't be moving to London! I cannot do it, not now and not ever! I am sorry but there are some complications, and I…"

"No, no you misunderstood. This time I am offering you to become the new director of the Washington office, you would report directly to the Attorney General. Less hours, a high salary. If you refuse this time, I don't know you."

"…"

"Emily? Are you still there?"

"Yes, sorry I zoned out. Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Of course not! I learnt of your nomination just yesterday and volunteered to call you to make the offer and tell you to report directly to the office next week and talk with the attorney. Emily this is humongous, it's really big. I know you love your team and enjoy working with them, but please…promise me you will think about it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Listen I need to cut it short now, the job is calling. Have a nice weekend."

"By Clyde …" she started saying, but all she heard was the click on the other end.

She started walking back, while thinking about the offer, she started making a mental list on the pros and cons of it. Just as she sat down in the stands, she heard the speaker call for the 100m freestyle female 4th graders. That meant Mckenzie, so she stopped thinking too hard and enjoyed her baby's swim race. She must have been one of the loudest cheering parents, but she could not care less, and when her girl won she was so proud, that all her worries disappeared for a moment.

All her problems could wait till tomorrow, today she would spend it enjoying her family and her child's accomplishments. She started thinking how proud she was of Kenzie and how happy she was to have an opportunity of spending more time at home with her, maybe create a new life, who knew? But then she started imagining that she had Jenny with her and that would never become a reality now not unless….but she interrupted her train of thought to focus on the medal awarding of her beautiful angel and decided to let it go for now, she will think about everything later, right now there was only one priority and that was there standing on the highest podium smiling and waving at her


	2. Why did I lose myself?

It was finally here! The moment she dreaded the most! JJ was already putting on her dress and she needed to get herself together and fake a big smile, so nobody would find out her true feelings. She had spent such a lovely day with her daughter, celebrating and shopping without a care for the rest of the world, or better for her problems, which were related to her team.

She was brought out of her musing by JJ who wanted her attention "Emily! What do you think? Will he like it? What do you think of it? Is it too much? Maybe it's too old fashioned..."

"JJ stop rambling! The dress is perfect! It's so much you. You are perfect. I hope he knows how lucky he is…" Emily reassured her, without realizing her cheeks were burning red and her eyes were getting watery.

"Em, are you okay? Is there something wrong with you? Why are your eyes so misty? I want to help…"

"On this note, I just remembered that I need to go help Rossi set up a few things. You stay here with Garcia and your mom, I will see you later."

"Emily wait!" but Emily was already gone, she turned around and asked Garcia: "What happened? Why is she so evasive and mysterious? Did I do something wrong?"

"JJ she is probably jealous that you get to have a family and she still has yet to find someone who will match her in brain and hobbies. That is something you should forget! Tonight is all about you and Will and that is all. I will join the others. Mrs Jareau could you finish getting her make-up ready? I will go and see where is that handsome godchild of mine. See you later" Garcia concluded before leaving the room to join everybody else in the garden

Sandy got up went to close the door, so she could talk to her only daughter and make sure she was ready for this big step.

"Jenny I love you, you know that right? I might have closed myself off after Rosie left us, but I never stopped loving you, I never stopped admiring you for your strength and passion."

"I know mom, why are you talking this way? Oh my God! Are you sick? Is this your way of telling me you are dying or having a surgery or…"

"Jennifer stop! No, I am not sick! You almost gave me a stroke with your talking. No! no! no! I am perfect and intend it to stay that way for a long, long time. What I am trying to ask you is if you are completely sure of your decision to marry him?"

"What? Don't you like him? You always enjoy when we come visit you. Weren't you the first to tell me that Will and I should finally tight the knot for our child's sake?" spit out JJ without breathing.

"Of course I admit he is a good person, he is a wonderful dad and an acceptable boyfriend. But Jenny I don't want you to get married now because of everybody's opinion and because of the heat of the moment. You did almost lose him yesterday in that bank. I want you to be completely sure and when you do get married I want it to be only of your choice and not someone else's idea. I do not know if you are getting what I am trying to explain."

"Mom, no I get it. I do want to get married" answered too quickly JJ.

"Jennifer, look me in the eye and talk slowly"

"I…I, I c-a-a-n't m-o-m. I don't know! OMG! I am not sure. How can I be so unsure? I love him! I really do. I love our family." JJ plopped down on the chair, putting her head in hands and started crying silently.

"Oh Jenny!" Sandy got on her knees and tagged her baby girl towards her arms. In that moment, she needed to protect her little angel from everything and everyone, just like she did when Jen was little. Jenny, as soon as she felt her mother's arms encircle her she broke out in heartfelt sobs. It was like she could finally release all that pent-up anguish and frustration. Almost like she could finally let go and open the floodgates of her soul. She finally started feeling without suppressing her fears and sorrows, no Henry that needed her attention, no Will who, although he was sweet and perfect, could never know of this side of her. It would only bring him sadness and anger. No, she could not talk of this with Garcia, who, under all that bubbly and cheerful façade, was still slightly closed minded because of her religious upbringing.

"M-o-m I messed up! I need to give Henry stability, but I am not sure I love Will in the right way. How could I just stop trying? When did I lose faith?" tried JJ to start talking, "I loved so much working with the squad but now? Now I no longer know who I am. Last year I lost a child and I started losing my touch. I feel like I am being pulled in trillions of different directions, but which one is the right one? Do I marry him and make everyone happy or do I wait and find myself again? I fear that if I keep going down this path I will one day regret who I turned out to be." Blurted out Jenny in rapid succession.

Sandy let her vent her frustration and kept silent. She started noticing little things that should have raised alarm bells in everybody: weren't they profilers for goodness sake? She decided right then and there that they just never really knew her baby, well maybe except for Prentiss but she was probably having her own problems, just like Garcia said.

"Darling, you didn't mess up and you are not wrong! Oh sweetheart, I love you but you are so like your father that sometimes I want to smash your head against a wall. Why do you bottle all your feelings up and then try to suppress them? This is what happens. Don't you worry! Everything will resolve, why don't you dry your teary eyes while I get Will so you two can talk a bit. And promise me that you won't lie to him about your feelings. I love you and nothing you could ever do would make my love falter. Ok?" she asked Jenny, while holding her face in her hands.

JJ nodded trying to stop the flow of tears without success. She felt so lost and the only person who she wanted to understand her was right there! Her mom was so amazing, she wasn't mad she just wanted her happiness.

"I need you to verbally answer me Jay, this time I need you to be strong and fight for what you want and not what others might want from you okay?"

"I, Okay mom! I promise. Can you make sure no one comes and interrupts us?"

"Of course I will! You think of talking to him and I will try and make Garcia stay out of it."

"Thank you, you are the best. Oh would it be possible to entertain Henry for a bit?"

"You never have to ask. I love spending time with my little man. Well I am going to find Will, you go to the bathroom and clean up" Sandy kissed JJ's head and left the room in search of Detective LaMontagne, hoping he would behave and not make a scene.

OUTSIDE IN THE YARD

Emily was happily playing with Henry, Jack and Reid at hide and seek. Everything was better than the judging eyes of Rossi, Morgan and Garcia. She couldn't believe them. They just saw her as the villain who wanted to ruin the day. Almost as if she were not part of their family, like she was an intruder who wanted to destroy their glass castle. She always knew that one day she would have to leave them, but she never thought it would be so horrible and a complete disaster.

"Emmy! Emmy! Come and hide with me please…" whined Henry, taking her hand and running towards the garden shed. She secretly thanked him for his timing and answered: "shhh! We need to whisper-talk, unless you want Reid to find us."

"Sorry aunty Em! We need to shh! So we can win!" whisper-exclaimed the excited young boy

"Do you think Reid will find Jack first?"

"I don't know mini J." Em murmured in his ear, after having moved his mop of hair away from his eyes.

They kept silently talking to each other, until they heard: "This is not right! I was already at the tree! I am safe. You cannot find me again Reid. Emily! Come and help me out please. Reid does not play right. If I get to the base first I am safe right? Emily? Emily? Dad where did Emily go?"

"Jack I think she is still hiding with Henry. You need to wait a moment for her to come out. Oh wait! Where is Reid going?" Hotch answered, while showing Jack the direction Reid took.

Hotch shook his head amused at his boy's antics. He ran off in the shed's directions before he could even straighten his tie. How he wished Hailey could be there to see him and raise him. He was sure she would be running after him screaming her head off, all the while laughing so hard and enjoying his innocence. He wondered if they might have tried to work things out and got back together. He was reassured by the fact that she was probably watching over them, maybe even approving of Beth. Beth, where was she? He stopped musing and carefully searched around for her. Aha! She was talking with Will, probably about New Orleans. He decided to join her and was almost there when, out of nowhere, Sandy came solemnly out of the backdoor and asked Will to follow her inside.

"Is something wrong?" asked Garcia, "do you need me back inside? What is taking JJ so long? It will soon be time for bed for Henry and Jack. Is she having last-minute doubts. I can come and shake her out of them." and moved to join them towards the house.

"No! No! No! You won't go anywhere nere Jennifer. She needs to talk to Will and that is all you need to know. Do you understand me?" angrily blocked her Sandy.

"Come on Will, she is waiting for you in this room." "Wait! Before you go in, promise you will listen to her, she is hurting right now and she needs your patience and acceptance. Then after hearing her out you can scream and yell at her. Just listen and please no raised hands."

"Yes, Mrs Jareau. I promise I won't hit her. I am going to hate what she says, aren't I?"

"Of that I am not sure. You might or might not, I have to go and control Garcia, before she creates more drama. I am deeply sorry…" she left without further delay and rejoined everyone out in the garden.

"Knock Knock" "JayJay? Can I come in? Do I need to keep my eyes closed?"

He came inside and the sight in front of him broke his heart


	3. Sometimes we do the unthinkable for love

The sight before him broke his heart...

He had never seen her like this, like she was breaking into tiny little pieces of glass, each one completely different, without possibilities of stitching them together. Seeing his love hunched over and lost in a mist of pain, he came to the conclusion that whatever she needed to tell him would change everything. What he thought of his life would be forever mutated, something that scared him. He knew, from some of his colleagues, that whenever someone experienced one of these life changing moments, that someone is forever altered. The way that person sees the world, the way they hear or smell, the way the react to a situation. Everything is different, from the smell of your bacon to the music of your favorite song, to the places you have ever visited. It's all different. That is what was passing through Will's mind as he was approaching his soon-to-be wife. Would he still be getting married? Why was she so broken? Did I do something wrong? Should I let her speak in her own time? Or should I just get it over with? So many variables and uncertainties oppressed his mine. In the end he decided to let her speak up her mind, in her own time, so not to influence her speech, it seemed like it would be the best idea...

"Cheri, what happened? Your mother came to get me quickly and seeing you like this destroys me. I need you to talk to me and explained your sorrows to try and help you. Cheri is there anything at all that I can do to help?" he said as soon as he was near enough to kneel down and lightly touch her cheek. He was caressing her face and drying two lonesome tears that had come barreling down her cheeks at his heartfelt words.

Still raw from her breakdown in her mother arms, JJ had difficulty formulating coherent words, every time she tried opening her mouth to explain, she choked up and was unable to utter even a single word. She wanted to make him understand so much, but how could she begin? Where to start? _Sorry I cannot marry you? Or how about: I lied to you, I have never been in love with you but I thought that I could learn to love you just like you love me._ No she couldn't start from the obvious, she needed to take her time and explained every moment, right from when she met him that first time, she owed him a lengthy explanation and the only way for her to do that, was to open her heart completely to him and hope he could accept and understand her predicament. But even starting with a _I am sorry but I need to be honest with you and tell you our story from my view and I need you to stay silent and listen till the very end._ That sounded better, but she couldn't put it into words, her head and voice were not helping. Every time she found the courage to start, she would feel a tightness in her chest and then … nothing! No words, no sounds! It was too hard, too painful. The only action her brain seemed to allow her freely was crying: she felt the hot salty tears run down her cheeks, like there was no tomorrow and they had to cascade faster and faster. Her vision was getting blurrier by the second and she knew that she had to breath in slowly and calm down. She was shaking too much. That was when she felt him grab her hands and still her movements, he leaned in and whispered:

"This is excruciatingly painful. I need you to calm down and breath in. This must be hard, and I get it. I want to give you all the time in the world, but unfortunately, I am not sure the others will leave us alone for long. I have no idea how your mother is able to keep Penelope from running in here and trying to impose her will. We will talk all night if it's necessary, I promise you this, but first answer one question. Can you do that for me?" he murmured

She concentrated hard and slowly nodded to answer him yes.

"Okay, JJ, this is tough, I never thought I would have to ask you something like this: are you having problems at the idea of getting married to me?"

She nodded while furiously trying to wipe away some of the tears

"I think I know what to do. Now listen carefully, we will talk later at your house, where no one will be able to interrupt us. But first, I am now going to look for your mother, so she can come here and help you out of your outfit. In the meantime, I will explain to everyone that yesterday you saw me with another woman and that is why you were so nervous tonight. You confronted me now and I broke down, telling you everything: how I have been cheating on you for months and how I wanted it all. A wife and a lover. You were so angry that you called it off and decided that you'd like to leave and spend some time away. Away from the job and from everybody else. I will also tell them to leave you alone and not bother pestering you with phone calls, coz you would never answer."

"No" she was able to murmur, "You shouldn't do it! It's my f-a-u-l-t" she cried out.

He gently touched her face and simply explained: "It does not matter. I want to do it, you are in no state to see any of them. When you will feel like it, you will gather them and tell them the truth ok? I am going now." He got up and went to leave, but before he could exit the room, he turned around and told her: "you are breathtakingly beautiful in that dress. Even with the make-up running down your face, you look like an angel. I need you to believe me when I say that I want to help you out. I love you, more that you could ever know."

OUTSIDE IN THE GARDEN

The kids were getting restless and Emily was getting short on distraction ideas. What could she invent now? What could have happened to JJ? She was taking so much time. No, don't go there! Stop thinking about her, concluded her brain. She was almost asking Reid for some advice, when her cellphone started ringing in her purse, which was on the table near where she was standing.

"Sorry boys! I must answer. It will be just one minute, and then we can start playing tag."

"Hello? Stella, calm down, calm down! What happened? Wait, what? Oh my god! I am coming. Yeah of course… you are? Ok I will get there in 10 minutes. No we were at my other colleagues house. It's a 10 minute drive from here. Tell her I will be there soon. I, I am coming. Bye" she clicked close her phone, turned towards the boys and excused herself: " I have to go. Reid tell everybody else that I need to leave. It's an emergency. Tell JJ sorry from me. Love you, bye" and she ran, as fast as she could, towards her car. Emily got in the driver's seat and, with shaky hands started the engine and got on the road.

She knew she was going over the speed limit but how could she not? Her sitter had just called her frantically to tell her that she was in an ambulance with her baby, because she threw up so much and she was burning and in extreme abdominal pain. Her head was running wild, and at every red light, she would lose some of the small control she retained. She thought of all the possible scenarios that would await her at Bethesda. Where did it all go wrong.

BACK AT ROSSI'S

Will came out into the yard. Garcia tried to pry him towards her to have him explain everything but he freed his arm and moved to Sandy.

"Can you go in and check on her? We will talk later, away from these nosey friends. I will lie and tell everyone that I cheated, this way they will leave her alone. But I want you to take her away, get her out of here, to her house. There she can change and take something to help her. I will finish talking to them, collect Henry and join you okay?" Will told Sandy, making it clear that he was unremovable from his decision.

"Be careful! I don't want you to get hurt. They can be brutal. I will go, but Will…thank you, I appreciate what you are doing. I might not like it, but, from parent to parent I understand this need to protect." She squeezed his arm to silently thank him and left to join her daughter.

Will, then, turned around and approached the others to try and placate their curiosity, knowing fully that they would be angry and furious with him, they might even try to hurt him. His only hope was that Henry would make them contain their fury.

He looked them in the eyes and decided to be quick and concise, the sooner he ended it, the sooner it would all be over. He could leave and find out the truth from JJ.

"I need you to listen and understand three things: first, Henry is here and I have to take him home; second, I still need to talk to JJ and third she is expecting me at her house…"

They all interrupted him:

Hotch "Why are you talking like this?"

Garcia "Wait, why is JJ going home?"

Morgan / Rossi "What the fuck did you do? What happened?"

The only ones not joining in were Beth, who he did not know well, and Strauss, who he never liked to begin with.

"Guys, quiet! JJ found out something and, after confronting me about it decided that she could not marry me. She decided that she needs time off and left. I did something horrible. I cheated on her with a friend." He did not have the time to explain further because Morgan punched him in the face and went to wrestle him

"I will kill you! You bastard. How could you?" Morgan started pinning him down to use him as a punching bag. He went for his face but was blocked by Hotch.

"Let me go! He deserves it. You know it, he knows it!" struggled Derek.

Calmly, Hotch answered: "he deserves this and more, but he told us that he needs to go and explain it better. We will have time to hurt him, starting from tomorrow."

Rossi wanted him gone and said it bluntly: "Leave my garden! You are a bastard, who does not deserve our JJ. Get up and leave!"

Garcia was crying and screamed so many different profanities at him. Everyone was verbally assaulting him, that is until they heard a tiny voice yell with joy: "Daddy, daddy! Where are mommy and nana? I am tired… can we go home please?"

That made them all stop and fake a smile. Morgan got off him and let him get up.

"Henry, mommy was not feeling well, so she went home with grandma. Why don't you say bye to everybody, so we can go home to see how mommy is. Okay?"

"Otay."

Will picked him up and left without saying a word. He slowed down for Henry to say "Bye Bye! Nite Nite". He got to the car, fastened Henry in the backseat and drove away thanking someone up there that he got out of it alive and not bleeding. He momentarily wondered why Emily was no longer there, but that left his mind at the sound of his son's voice: "daddy, I nite nite with mommy?"

"Not tonight buddy, tonight you will sleep with grandma okay?"

"Otay, lalou daddy." And he promptly closed his eyes, tired from all the playing he did. Will smiled at him in the rear view mirror, but, as soon as he turned back around, he noticed that his hands were shaking. He decided to slow down and drive carefully, he would get there soon enough. He spent the rest of the ride in silence and thinking about the disastrous night he was still rewinding the weekend moments, when he found himself turning into their driveway. His reflections would need to wait, now he had to go and face her, but first… get Henry out of his car seat without waking him up. He switched off the car and got around to pick Henry up, he walked up to the door and entered, accepting that this would be his turning point. He managed to lock the door and quietly put his son in his bed, before joining JJ in the backyard to start an overdue conversation.

BETHESDA HOSPITAL

Emily ran into the ER pushing past all the people in her way, without bothering to ask forgiveness. She jogged up to the nurse's station and waited 10 seconds for the nurse to turn around. She never did, so Emily slammed her hand down on the counter angrily. That got the nurse's attention.

"How may I help you?" said the nurse through gritted teeth

"My daughter was brought here 30 minutes ago with an ambulance. She was with her sitter."

"What is your daughter's name madam?"

"Mackenzie Elizabeth Prentiss."

"One second… She was brought into emergency surgery. She is on the sixth floor."

Emily broke into a sprint towards the lifts, she never bothered with thanking the nurse, she just ran inside and pushed the 6th bottom. She was so scared, her heart was beating so fast that she almost missed the sound of the doors opening on the right floor. She had just enough time to get out of the lift before the door closed again. She now had no idea where to go. She never bothered listening to the last few words that nurse said. What would she do?...


	4. Never judge a character by its cover

What could she do? She had no directions other than the floor. Where were the surgical rooms? Oh God! Where was her baby? She was ready to break down and slump to the floor. She was tired and overwhelmed by everything: the situation with the team, the depth of her feelings for JJ and, of course the worst of all, the hospital visit. Not knowing anything about her beautiful girl, and what about Sylvia? Where was she? She must be so scared. She had her hands in her hair trying to pull them out from the frustration, this way she wouldn't start biting her nails, she had already drawn blood earlier. Her eyes darted around looking for a sign of life but there were none. Nobody seemed to be there, and that scared her so much, if there was no one…were they all in the operating rooms? Was her daughter's surgery so difficult that it needed so many people? She was losing hope and life seemed so bleak. But then, a miracle happened. Later on she would start thanking every single star in the universe for her luck and its timing. When all hope had left her, she heard some voices coming towards her from the other side of the corridor. She opened her eyes and saw two nurses exiting a small room, probably their coffee room. She regained her mobility and with the strength of a sprinter she reached them in two seconds and scared the life out of them.

"I am sorry… _breath…_ my name is Emily Prentiss and I was told that my daughter was brought up here for an emergency surgery. I have no idea of what happened. She was home with her sitter and I was out. She was feeling well when I left. Oh no! Where is Sylvia? _Breath, ragged breaths, every minute it was getting harder._ She talked so fast that she was having problems breathing and keeping her head together. If it weren't for the two nurses who found a paper bag and guided her to a chair, right around the corner she would have ended up having a full panic attack.

"Ma'am you need to take a deep breath, everything will resolve."

Emily composed herself and breathed in slowly, in the eerie silence, in those seconds while she breathed, she could hear the thunderous beating of her heart and the dampening of her cheeks because of the tears that were coming out of her eyes.

The seconds turned into a minute and she felt more present and coherent, her head was heavier and she realized that her surroundings had slightly changed: no longer was she near the elevators, now she was in a bigger area. Here there were some rows of chairs and a coffee machine on the table to the far end.

"This is better. Now, you said something about your daughter being rushed up here. How old is your daughter?"

Emily took a moment to calm down and answered in between sobs: "she is 9 years old, her name is Mckenzie Prentiss. Have you seen her? They wouldn't tell me anything downstairs."

"Mmm, I need to check the files." The taller one replied. "Wait! Does she have dark hairs just like yours? Nicole, I think she is the mother of the girl they brought earlier with a ruptured appendix. Mrs Prentiss I will"

" Ms…"

"Sorry, ms Prentiss I will go and ask for the doctor to come and update you Okay? In the meantime, why don't wait here. We will be at the nurses station. If you need something, you only have to ask."

Emily smiled for the first time and whispered a thank you before remembering something else: "Can you guys, sorry really sorry for bothering, but can you find where Sylvia is. She came in with my daughter and I need to know that she is fine. She must be traumatized, she is barely 15 years old."

"Yes, of course. We will try and find out what happened and which doctor is with her. Is there anyone we can call for you?"

"No, no thank y-o-u."

The nurses moved away to gather any information about the young girl. One moved to the operating board to see in which room she was, the other went to the lifts so she could look for this Sylvia in the ER. All the while, Emily just sat there praying that everything would turn out okay, wishing JJ were there, even just as a friend, to help her through. But she knew it was just wishful dreaming: she was probably on her way to some tropical island on her honeymoon. She was unaware of what she had liberated in Jennifer's spirit. She decided to send her a message to explain her absence: _sorry Jay I missed your wedding. I had an emergency and needed to go to Bethesda, you are probably on your way to the airport now. I just hope you have a wondrous time in the Caribbeans and know that I will always be there for you and Henry. Sorry if in the last few days I seemed distant but I had some feelings to sort and realized that I missed too many opportunities in life, always too late to act upon them. I have been keeping a deep deep secret from all of you, but mostly you and hope you can forgive me when I explain. I love you and miss you. I will see you when you get back, hopefully._

She clicked send and shut her eyes and opened them wishfully, knowing that this was a horrible nightmare and that she was really in the hospital waiting for news on Kenzie. All of this happening the night where the love of her life had got married to the father of her child. She closed her eyes again, just to stop seeing those wretched yellow walls that she always hated, since she was in a similar predicament. Back then it had been her twin sister in surgery but she never made it out alive.

She had to stop reminiscing about her terrible past, she needed to concentrate on the present and on believing that everything would turn out okay for Mckenzie. She needed to be strong and wait, and wait she did.

Garcia was pacing back and forth muttering to herself. What the fuck did Emily do? She ruined everything. I bet it was her whom Will cheated on JayJay with. She was always bad news. She wanted to destroy her. As soon as she could get to her babies she would destroy her records and her finances

She kept muttering to herself while the others started discussing the night's events trying to discern the reasons behind the outcome of it.

Morgan was the angriest, he kept screaming for Emily's head. He was certain, to the point of no return, that it was all Prentiss's fault! He was convinced that she had confused JJ with her half truths and lies. She was changed, she was not the same woman before Doyle... she was closed off and kept so many secrets that he hardly recognized her anymore.

"How could she! She must have lied to Jay and told her that he cheated. I cannot believe her nerve? HOW COULD SHE?" He yelled, his eyes so full of anger that they could kill.

"What are you talking about Derek?" Curiously wondered with innocence Reid.

"What am I talking about? No wonder no girl will ever notice you! Your besty Emily lies to your beloved JJ! She must have told her that he cheated. Do you understand NOW?"

"But why would she do it? She is friends with JJ. I don't understand." Continued, with a confused face

"What Morgan is trying to insinuate is that Emily did it because she is in love with JJ. Does that make it clear?" Patiently explained Rossi, like he was trying to simplify a complicated matter to a small child, but he was interrupted by Spencer who, in all honesty was still slightly confused

"But Emily would not do something so horrible if she really loved her. She told me she was happy for her and that she could learn to live with her married to another person."

"Oh shut up Reid! Will you shut UP? She is a horrible person! She was so jealous that lied to you! That's all she ever does: LIE, LIE and LIEEEE"

"That's enough!" Thundered our Hotch, scaring both Beth and Jack. "Walk away now. That's an order."

Morgan angrily left to join Garcia in her plotting.

"I am sorry Jack. I lost my temper. Never do it okay buddy?" Hotch knelt ti be eye level with him, then turned around and added "sorry guys. I lost it. I ask you guys to wait and see. I do not believe that it's like the say. So please don't accuse Emily. I think she does love JJ but I am 100% positive she would never lie to her about Will. So please wait and Reid, Rossi ... can you guys keep an eye on Garcia and Morgan? I am scared of what they could try. They are convinced of Emily's deceit."

Rossi added "also Erin I am really terrified of Garcia right now, could you block all her access to the agency's computers and database? And you are friends with Ambassador Prentiss right?"

"I would not call us friends, but yes I know her personally why?"

"Ask her to add security to all of her internet accounts and bank accounts."

"Will be done, but do you think it's necessary Dave?"

"Unfortunately, yes I do. But it's late and Jack is falling asleep. Why don't we call it a night? Tomorrow we can talk better, after having slept on it. Erin will you stay tonight? I don't want you driving at this hour."

"Yes, I'll stay, just to make you happy. Goodnight everyone."

Reid said goodbye and left, Hotch offered to help tidy up but, in the end, thanked Rossi and left with Jack drowsing in his arms and Barth who helped him with the doors.

Rossi turned to look at Erin Strauss and kissed her, like it was the most natural thing to do. Almost as if they had been kissing for years and not only then.

JJ AND WILL

JJ heard the front door open and close, so she prepared herself for the onslaught of tough question. She began playing with her hands. She heard him climb the stairs, that's when she understood: he was putting Henry to sleep. That made her feel worse. What mother could forget about her child because of her own feelings? What had she done? Forget her own child! She wasn't fit to be a mother.

She kept muttering to herself, she couldn't stop envisioning worse and worse scenarios of the fatidic conversation so she paced back and forth, almost wearing a hole in her white carpet. She was so engrossed in her thoughts, that she never heard him come down and join her in the living room. She never saw him standing there with a resigned expression, one that portrayed sadness and total defeat, one that spoke millions of words about family and love. She was still in her own world, when she heard a cough behind her: Will was trying to capture her attention without scaring her too much.

When he entered the room, he saw her and wondered what got her so riled up and upset. He wanted to take her in his arms and make her pain go away. Unfortunately, he knew that it would be impossible. He let her keep going around for a few minutes, without making his presence known. Why? He wanted to look at her for one last time before the storm hit and swept everything they built away. He looked at her and remembered the first few times they met. How much easier it was, without commitments and without a care in the world. He knew he was no saint, he created some of the problems they had with his possessiveness and need for her to stop working there. Worst of all, his jealousy with Emily. Since she had come back from the dead, something else he was angry about because JJ never stopped talking to her since she was in on her survival, JJ and Emily shared an impossibly tight bond. Now, looking back, he knew that his dreams of the future had always been just that. How could he compete with her? He just knew, from her sorrowful look at Rossi's he knew. He decided that it was better to get everything over with, without further ado. He decided against going up behind her and touching her shoulder. That would be a disaster. No, he coughed to gain her attention and succeeded.

She turned and looked him in the eye: that was the moment of truth. She had to find the courage and tell him everything.

"Will, I am …" "I wanted to say sorry, but I don't think it would cut it. What I did to you is horrible but, there are no excuses except that it is my fault. I was the one escaping my fears and trying to do what everyone thought was best for Henry. For that I am deeply sorry because I never thought I couldn't make it. I always believed in the saying _fake it till you make it_. And I tried, I really tried but the problem is that I can't. I love you, you know I do, I enjoyed our time together and you are perfect, the problem is that…"

"That you are not perfect for me is that it? You say you love me but you cannot tell me that you are in love with me. Am I right?"

She merely nodded with her head held low, feeling ashamed of her feelings. She knew she ruined it all.

He lifted her chin, so he was looking in her eyes, took a deep breath and resumed: "Cheri don't feel ashamed. Those are your feelings, what makes you … you." He took a shaky breath and went on

"I am angry, but I could never hate you. I am angry with myself because I thought that I could make you fall in love, even when I knew deep down. Knew that you could never love me like that. Don't cry love. I always knew this day would come. Actually I thought you would have taken courage a long time ago."

"What? What are you talking about? Courage for what? Will?" enquired Jay, feeling more confused by the minute.

"To finally accept that you are in love with Emily, Cherì."


	5. Facing the truth

I wanted to explain to everyone the reason for which, I will be uploading only twice a week. Most probably on Tuesdays and Fridays or Saturdays. I am a second-year med student and my schooling comes first. There might be weeks, where I will be able to upload more times, that does not mean it will always happen. Enjoy the chapter.

"I am what? Wait one moment. You are saying that I, that I am in love with Emily. Are you crazy?"

"Cheri, yes, I believe you are, and you know why I think that?" She was so stunned that she let him go on...

"Since the moment we became a couple, you have always wanted to share more with her. Tell me, who was the first person, except for me, whom you told about being pregnant?"

"I told Garcia, no wait, I think it might have been my mom. Yeah, definitely my mom, why?"

"Okay, so when did you tell Emily?"

"You told her. Don't you remember coming to New York?"

"Yes, I did come there, but she already knew, didn't she? She was not as surprised as the others. You two shared a room there, if I remember correctly."

She was shocked. She couldn't remember if she had told Emily before telling the team. She thought about that week and all she could remember was feeling sad and angry about his misogynistic views. But then, something came to mind: a conversation she and Emily had the night before he turned up.

"What's wrong JJ? Are things with Crawfish going good? You seem distracted and sad. You are much tired and Oh My God! You are pregnant, aren't you?" JJ's answer was to cry and throw herself in Emily's arms. She also remembered that the same night, after confessing all of her fears and hopes to her partner, she just fell asleep in Em's embrace and, even today, was the safest place for her.

"Will, I didn't know, she just guessed right. You cannot base all your evidence on this instance alone."

"Ok, what about when you had Henry? If you were overwhelmed, you would call only her. She was the only one able to help you and calm both of you down. And then, after you went to the Pentagon, you would see everybody, but who would you call every single day?"

"Oh, come on! That is because she is my best friend. I'd call her because she was the only person alive to whom I could vent my frustration. She understood better than anyone. Is that all?"

"No, let's talk about her death."

"What of it?"

"You knew of her survival, you took her to Paris I believe and you chatted with her all the time. And then..."

"Wait, I was the only one! What would you have done? Would you have left her all alone, without your family, without knowing if you could always come home? I cannot believe your nerve." She got up and was about to leave when he grabbed her arm and started again.

"You might have blocked the memories, but I remember you crying every time you stopped playing with her for the night. I remember how many times you woke up screaming for her. That is when I finally understood the depth of your feelings for her. JJ, you need to finally accept it. You even cried out her name in the throws of passion, and it happened more than once. You need to make amends with your daemons," he concluded. He saw realization dawn in her eyes and decided to give her some time to process. As he got up to check on Henry, he heard her gasp and start muttering something about Emily and the hospital. He turned around and found her looking at the screen of her phone. Her face betrayed her, and he could clearly see how this uncertainty was affecting her. He moved behind her and read the message:

sorry Jay I missed your wedding. I had an emergency and needed to go to Bethesda, you are probably on your way to the airport now. I just hope you have a wondrous time in the Caribbeans and know that I will always be there for you and Henry. Sorry if in the last few days I seemed distant but I had some feelings to sort and realized that I missed too many opportunities in life, always too late to act upon them. I have been keeping a deep deep secret from all of you, but mostly you and hope you can forgive me when I explain. I love you and miss you. I will see you when you get back, hopefully.

He knew what he had to do. She needed to go to Emily; they needed each other. He got her car keys and dangled them in front of her reflective face.

"Cheri, she needs you. Go, we will be fine. You have to go. Don't worry."

"Will, I have no idea how I got so lucky with a man like you. I may not be in love with you, but I do care deeply and want you to be happy. I need to do this. I will let you know sometime later, okay? I don't know if it's her or her mother, or someone else. As soon as I know, I will give you an update." She hesitated. She knew he was hurting and she felt like she was betraying him by going to Em.

He felt her reluctance and insisted: "Go! We will finish this discussion tomorrow. Now she is more important. Go!"

She ran out the front door, got in the car and drove towards the highway that would get her to the hospital in the shortest time. While driving, she reflected on her life and how this evening had definitely changed her future. She still might be confused about her feelings and she had no idea of Emily's. But who knew what the future would hold? She hoped nothing tragic, but she wasn't sure after Em's cryptic message. All these thoughts were running through her head and kept her on edge all the way to Bethesda. She found herself parking near the ER entrance, without really knowing how she got there. She moved towards the entrance. She hated this hospital, here where Emily was declared dead. She took a deep breath and entered. She knew this time she needed to be the strong one. She still had no idea of what had happened. Not even in her wildest dreams could she have imagined what she would discover later. She just entered, moved to the nurse's desk and asked for Emily Prentiss. All she got was a mumbled sixth floor and surgical area. Nothing else, no further directions, no explanation, just that.


	6. Jealousy is a horrible monster

Sorry for the delay: Thursday, Friday and yesterday I had a fever and felt terrible. This is the reason I am updating only now. Enjoy the chapter.

She was angry, so angry! She never felt this fury build up in her before. Garcia was so focused on her feelings that she didn't hear Derek talking to her. He was going to JJ's house to confront her, and wanted her to join him. He had already started his car, when she noticed him leaving. She made a split-second decision, so she ran to the car and startled him by opening the door. She sat down and told him

"I am coming with you. I have a bone to pick with her. After all, it took me almost two days to organize everything. She had a lot of nerve to, you know... get up and leave. How could she?" Exclaimed Garcia, breaking the silence.

Morgan started the car and drove out of Rossi's street waiting for Pen to start a new rant. He could see, with the corner of his eyes, that she was so red, she could explode within seconds.

"I need you to help me tomorrow. I will make sure Emily pays for everything! She destroyed JJ's future. For what? A fuck-buddy? To become the one who cheated with her friend's man? My hunk of chocolate, why did she do it? Why hurt JJ? I get that she is lonely and getting older, but why?"

"Baby girl, I don't think Will really cheated. I think Emily told this to JJ, just to have them separate. But I will help you out. You do know that Emily is in love with JJ, don't you?"

Morgan shocked Garcia. He saw complete and utter surprise on her face. Almost like she had no idea, none whatsoever.

"Garcia?"

"You are joking. It's impossible. Emily is not that. I would have known it. I am the oracle of all knowledge." She started chanting over and over again.

"Wait! Baby girl, do you have problems with homosexuality? How come we never knew about this? You always seemed so calm with cases related to it. Any way, you thought what? That Will cheated on her with Emily? That could never happen."

"Do you know, what you will tell JJ when we get there? I know I want to hurt LaMontagne so bad"

They kept talking until they turned into Jareau's road. Neither of them seeing the police cars all around. They couldn't know that, as soon as Strauss had seen them leave, she had called in the first favor to protect the two agents. It was the dispatchment of some police cars, to protect Agent Jareau's house and street.

When Morgan parked the car to the side of JJ's house, he was ready for the confrontations. He never stopped to look at his surroundings. If he had done it, he certainly would have started the car again and driven away. But of course he was too absorbed by his rage, and never noticed the policemen.

He went up to the door, with Garcia right behind him, and knocked fiercely on it. He knocked and knocked. He was almost ready to break it down, when someone opened. He was surprised to see neither Will nor JJ: it was Sandy Jareau. That complicated everything!

Emily was sitting on the ground. Her knees against her chest, tears flowing down her cheeks and her head laid on top of her legs. She was relieved that Sylvia was fine and that she was there sitting beside her father. Her friend Lyla, Sylvia's mom was beside her, she was talking to her and telling her that it would all be okay. Sylvia, on the other hand, was fast asleep on the chairs. Her head was laying on her daddy's legs. _She remembered when they got up there. They had been sent up almost an hour before, and right when Sylvia had been starting to drive herself crazy with worry. They_ _were there thanks to Nicole, the nurse. She found them in the ER and had explained the general situation to them._ When they arrived, Lyla, ran to Emily's side and sat down beside her. Emily was happy to finally have someone there with her. But her worry never ceased. She was still waiting for someone to come and tell her something.

As all of this was happening, JJ parked the car in record time, she ran to the ER bay, and once inside, she ran up to the nurses's desk. She demanded to know where she could find Prentiss. A nurse tried to make her wait, many were sick and needed to go through triage. But Jennifer was unmovable and stood her ground. A nurse remembered Emily, and told her to take the lifts and go to the sixth floor. Once there, the nurse explained better, she needed to go to the left of the lifts and walk. She would find, then, a waiting area. The nurse told her that, there is where she could find Prentiss.

JJ thanked her and left. She got to the lift and found it there, then got up to the sixth floor. Once there, she did what they told her, until she got to the right place. She saw an Emily so broken that it scared her. She went to her free side and sat down. Only when she started running her hand through Emily's hair, did Emily realize JJ's presence. She lifted her head and looked at JJ, then did the unthinkable, she threw herself into her arms and started sobbing.

JJ didn't know what happened, she just hugged Emily. She decided to look at the other woman sitting there, she might help her understand. Although she felt jealous of her. _Who was she? Why was she touching Emily? Were they together?_

The woman, sensing JJ's discomfort, moved to kneel on JJ's other side and whispered

"I am only Emily's best friend. I saw the way you looked at me. I am also the mom of her daughter's babysitter. You need to understand something: if she never told you, there is a reason. Don't feel betrayed, she was trying to protect McKenzie. That is her daughter. She is the one in there. They talked about appendicitis."

This shocked JJ, rendering her speechless. She didn't know how to answer to that. So Layla kept going

"I see the way you look at her. I know she is in good hands. I am going to leave her with you okay? I will go home with my daughter and my husband. Tell her to call me ASAP. Right as the doctors finishes telling her ok?"

She whispered in Emily's ear "Em, I am going to get Sylvia home. I will talk to you soon."

Emily didn't react to her words, almost like she was in a bubble and could no longer hear the voices around her. All she could feel was Jenny's embrace. _She felt protected and loved. She thought she was dreaming. There was no way Jen was here, she should be on an airplane. So she decided to keep dreaming, and screw it with the real world._

They stayed in that position for a long time. JJ lost in her thoughts, Emily in her dream. JJ wrote to Will a message explaining the situation. She told him that she had no idea, when she would be back.

After that, she thought about many past situations regarding Emily, where her behavior had seemed strange. Now, she finally got it, she was a single mother. Everything made sense now.

Sometime later, they heard someone approaching them.

"Ms Prentiss"

Hearing her name, Emily opened her eyes and saw a woman in green scrubs. She got up with JJ's help and asked

"How is McKenzie?" She was so tired and scared that she didn't pester the doctor with questions.

"Your daughter did perfectly. When she was brought in, she was already in acute appendicitis. That means that her appendix was so enlarged that it could break into the stomach walls and cause an infection. Fortunately, we were able to remove it before that. Right now they are closing her up and threw, we will bring her to her pediatric room.

There is something I wanted to ask you. Does she have any allergies, especially to medications? Did your daughter accuse pain in her lower belly, in the last few days?"

Emily felt relief wash over her, JJ had to hold her hand, to stop her from trembling. She found a modicum of composure and answered

"No, she does not have allergies. At least, that we are aware of. This is her first time in a hospital, so I don't know. She never talked about pain, she even went to a swimming competition on Friday. How is it possible?"

"She did a swimming competition? That is unexpected. This means she was lucky and she was brought in as soon as she started feeling pain. I will go and move her to a room now. Someone will be out in a few minutes to take you there." The surgeon left them alone. It was time to talk to JJ. She had to know why she was here and not with Will.


	7. Jail might do them good!

I am really sorry. I said that I would post twice a week. Unfortunately I had no time to write. I had so much stud to do for University. I also had 7 and a half hours of tutoring in the week. I had to help my aunt bring my cousins to their swimming lessons. So I couldn't write much. I do promise everyone that I'll try my hardest to post a new chapter in Thursday night. But I cannot be sure. On Thursday I have an exam. So until Thursday afternoon I won't have time. If not Thursday, I will upload one on Friday. Enjoy the chapter.

"Mrs Jareau! How are you doing? I imagine it was horrible after what happened. Could we talk with JJ? We think she is making a really really bad mistake." Uttered Morgan, essentially interrupting Garcia. He was sure, she would have embarrassed herself. She critized too much JJ's choice.

Garcia was getting frustrated. It was all Derek's fault. He was, basically, preventing her from voicing her opinion. And she wanted to, she needed to physically give Mrs Jareau a piece of her mind about the latest decision, her daughter made.

Garcia tried, to no avail, to interject and talk in Derek's stead.

Derek was starting to get tired of her not inviting them inside. He wanted to see JJ and talk to her. Then, he wanted to go to Prentiss' house and yell at her for being irresponsible and a home-wrecker. Unfortunately, Mrs Jareau was growing bolder and openly antagonized him. She couldn't stand them badmouthing Jenny. They thought they knew her, but in reality that was not the case. They were even throwing critics against Prentiss, but she was not responsible. Well, not directly responsible. She kept denying them entry. There was no way they would be allowed to come inside and find out Jenny's whereabouts. And, more importantly, they would not yell and wake up Henry. He was unaware of everything and he was sleeping like an angel. So no, she blocked them. But they were becoming more insistent and Garcia had the audacity of moving to push her out of the way.

Garcia was tired and Morgan was getting nowhere with his tirade. She decided that it was enough. She moved to push Sandy out of the way and enter the house. But she felt her arms hurt. They were being twisted behind her back. That is when she heard Sandy thank the police. Police? Wait! Where did the police come from? They were the FBI! She started feeling scared and screamed for Morgan. He would surely help her. But she turned his way and saw him being handcuffed, just like her. That is when she started trying to bribe the police officers:

"I work for the FBI! There must be some mistake. Please let's call my boss. It will all be alright. He will confirm our story."

"Ma'am you were about to force your entry in the house of Agent Jareau. That is illegal! You will have time to think about it at the county tonight. Together with your friend, you can reflect on what you wanted to do. Don't worry! Your boss already called us to warn us of your intentions."

That shut up Garcia and Morgan. They felt betrayed. That is when they felt their hate for Emily grow even stronger. They believed she was responsible.

"Thank you officer! I was growing tired. I thought they would never try something. Then, they would have kept me up all night." Sandy said to the agents, just as they closed the car's doors.

"No problem! Have a nice evening! Someone will keep watch. We will now take them to the station. I cannot believe them. LaMontagne is a great officer, so are Agent Jareau and Agent Prentiss. They will have had their reasons for making the choices they made. Nobody is at fault." With that, the two police officer's got into the car and drove away.

Sandy closed the door and went back to sleep, hoping that Jenny was finally with Emily clearing the air.

"I understand. No, sir. This won't go unpunished. I promise you this. We will go to the county prison. First thing tomorrow morning. Yes, sir. I will inform SSA Hotchner and Rossi immediately. Thank you, sir. Have a nice evening" Dave had difficulties understanding the conversation. But from the way Erin was behaving, it was not pleasant.

After Erin closed the phone call, she turned towards him and said "your agents are getting on my nerves. How can they be so stupid? I never thought they could be so close-minded and throw accusations left and right"

"Erin, what are you talking about? Who did something stupid and ended up in jail? Wait please tell me it wasn't Garcia and Morgan"

"Yes. They went to Agent Jareau's house. When they realized that Mrs Jareau would not let them in, Garcia decided to try and push Mrs Jareau to the ground and just enter the house. Thankfully, we thought ahead and sent some squad cars to protect them. The police officers had to arrest them."

"Of course, they must have tried the FBI card. Thus, the police had to verify their claim and called the director. He must have been unhappy with this."

"Unhappy? Dave he was furious! I explained what he didn't already know from the captain. That is also forgetting the conversation he had with Ambassador Prentiss. He called her before me. At least he has all the facts. He has decided that Ms Garcia and Agent Morgan will be suspended without pay for the next 6 weeks. Then, we will all revisit the situation. He is firmly on Jareau's and Prentiss' side. Now we have to wait and see. I think we should warn Agent Hotchner immediately. He needs to know."

"I think you are right. Maybe later we can discuss what happened. I know you have many doubts and questions. I do not have the whole picture, but I'll try to tell you what I know."

They looked at each other and saw what was left unspoken. They both needed to comment on the evening actions, they were human beings. But first came work. He took out his cell phone and called Hotch. Any personal feelings would have to wait, for now they had to concentrate on the team.

"Hotch, we have a problem. Morgan and Garcia tried to force themselves into JJ's house. No they were blocked by the police. Yeah, both Erin and I thought it best to let them spend the night there. Ok. We will talk tomorrow morning. Good Night. Say hi to Beth. Yeah, I will. Bye."

"Hotch wishes you a good night." She was surprised by it, so he took her hand and told her. "Come on, it's late! Let's go to bed. Work can wait for a few hours..."

They walked together to his bedroom, got in and closed the door. Now, it was time to enjoy the rest of the night. No more problems, no more work. Just them, two people who were exploring a new relationship.

"We need to talk." Emily told JJ, breaking the silence.

"I know. " answered JJ. And then, silence. Complete and utter silence. Neither wanted to start the heavy talk. Both knowing it could go two ways: they tightened their relationship or they broke it forever. One way or another, everything would change.

Emily knew it. JJ knew it. But neither had enough courage to start. They were so absorbed in their thoughts, time passed by and they kept the same position: facing each other, eyes on eyes. They didn't hear the doctor approach them.

"Ms Prentiss, your daughter is in a private room now. I am here to take you there. Is your partner going to join us?"

That got her out of her stupor.

"I am sorry, what did you say?"

"Your daughter is in a new room. I can take you there. Is your partner coming to?"

"She is not my..." but JJ interrupted her

"Yes, I am coming. Thank you. She is still shocked by everything. Is the room on this floor?"

"No, ma'am. Here we only have operation rooms. Ms Prentiss is on the third floor, in the pediatric department." With that he moved towards the lifts. They followed her there and down to the 3 floor without saying a word. They arrived to the room and listened to the doctor explain what would happen. How long would McKenzie be asleep, how much she would feel...stuff like that.

Emily was listening to the doctor intently. She needed to know so she coul be prepared. When the doctor finished explaining and left she moved to the bed. She had forgot about JJ, so she gasped in surprise when she felt her hand on her back. That made her realize that Jen was there. She still needed to ask her why.

She found herself whispering aloud

"I thought for sure, that you would be on your way to the Caribbean now. How did your husband take it? I don't believe he approved of your idea of a wedding night."

"Emily, I did not marry him. I couldn't. Not after the turmoil you unleashed in me. You don't know, do you?" She paused to think and pondered over her next words

"I finally understood something. I have been lying to Will, to you and to myself. I thought I was in love with Will. In truth, I did love him but not as he deserved. I loved the idea of him."

"JJ I am sorry. I never meant for it to..."

"Shut up! Listen, I was scared of the truth. It could ruin it all. I think I have been slowly falling in love with you. I don't know how it happened. I know that it hurt not being able to dance with you and be the one you were taking home. At the beginning, I thought that I was jealous of you as my friend. I knew Garcia was homophobic, that made me keep my bisexuality to myself. Then I was sent to the Pentagon and it hurt. But I thought it was because of the distance. Every time you guys left I had nightmares: what if something happened to you? I could not protect you. And finally... Doyle. I never knew I could feel so much pain and desperation at once." She started gasping and silently crying. She saw Emily reaching for her, she took a step back and halted her with her hand before resuming.

"I couldn't explain what I felt. I still believed I was desperate because you were thought dead. I was the only one who knew. I had so many nightmares. I never slept peacefully. I thought I was careful at work. I never thought that Will would catch on. Then, we started playing scrabble. From there, I felt better, almost normal. Later, you came back and I never felt so joyful like then. But, you were keeping your distance and it was hurting me. And last week. You went into the bank. I was terrified. Will was there and you were there. How could I stay calm? Everyone thought I was in that state because of Will. I don't think so. Now, I realize that I was too scared of losing you. I... I was dying in those moments. But you came out alive. I felt like I owed it to Henry to try the American dream. I convinced Will to ask me to marry him again. What a stupid idea!" ... "When you came and talked to me, I wanted to scream at you. Tell you to take me away and stop my madness. But I saw something in your eyes: you held so much pain and sorrow. It must have reawakened something deep in me. You left and I broke down. I was hysterical. I have no idea why. All I know is that I finally opened the gates holding my feelings together. There was no coming back. I still don't remember how it went. All I know is that Will lied to everyone. He told them he cheated and I stopped the wedding. That's when I left with my mom." She took a deep breath and finished

"When he got home with Henry, he explained some things to me. Subtle actions that cemented his belief that I am in love with you. I never knew I was so oblivious. He had to spell it out to me, before I caught on. He gave me the push that I needed, and here I am. C-r-a-z-i-l-y in l-o-o-v-e w-i-i-t-h you." By now she was gasping for air and had tears falling down her cheeks. She looked up and so Emily frozen in complete disbelief. She was scared. Maybe she had misread the signs, maybe Emily was not, in fact, in love with her. She was starting to panic, when she heard a feeble

"Did I hear you say that you are in love with me?"

That got her out of her paranoia.

"Am I dreaming? Are you taking pity of me in the hospital? JJ If this is a prank I might die. I..." but she never finished. She felt lips softly press against hers and shut her up. She was still for a second, but, as soon as she felt her brain catch up, she responded deepening the kiss. She pressed harder, moving her lips in synchro with JJ. She tried to convey all her love and passion in that kiss. She felt JJ gently move her hands to her hips, to steady her and bring her closer. At the same time, she needed more so, she put one hand on the back of JJ's head and tagged her nearer. She also opened her lips and moved her tongue along JJ's lips making her moan. That gave her the opportunity to thrust her tongue into her mouth. Exploring every inch she could reach. Every second she felt more passionate and increased the intensity of the kiss. Every time JJ responded accordingly and put every feeling she possessed into that magical moment. They kissed until they needed to come up for breath. They looked at each other, still embracing, and smiled. Emily wanted to tell JJ of her feelings, explain about her daughter, but she heard a small voice call for her

"Mommy, my throat is sore, can I have some water? Mommy, everything hurts..."

McKenzie was awake. Her baby was awake! She looked at JJ and then towards the bed. She felt JJ loosen her grip on her, so she turned around and gazed in her eyes. There she only saw understanding. So, she moved to the bed and sat down. She caressed Kenzie's head and said

"Hi sweetheart. How are you feeling? You are in the hospital."

JJ silently left to find the doctor. She was smiling and finally happy. She knew Emily loved her. She wouldn't have kissed her with such passion. She was also relieved: Emily's daughter was awake. Groggy and confused but already pestering Emily with questions. That was a good sign right? She kept looking around, until she found a nurse and explained the situation. The nurse told her that the doctor would get there in a few minutes. So she went back to the room and found the cutest scene ever: Emily was laying down beside McKenzie and she was reading her Harry Potter. She loved seeing mommy Emily. She silently entered and closed the door. The world could wait.


	8. Making decisions part 1

"Morning guys! Sorry for having you come here so early. Last night something happened." Hotch was immediately interrupted by Reid

"Yes, JJ did not get married because he cheated on her. Is this why you had us come here? Or is it about him cheating on JJ with Emily? Did you find any evidence that supports this theory? I do have a life, you know? I was going to meet my girlfriend for breakfast today. But no. I could not, why? Because you decided to have us meet."

"Reid! If you let me finish..."

"Wait! Wait! Wait! You, Spencer Reid, have a girlfriend? Why did I not know about it? I usually read people right on their love life. I am an expert, after all." Rossi interjected.

Hotch decided to show his authority. They had to decide quickly, they needed to choose how to handle this in-house situation, or else the director could make their life a leaving hell.

"Agent Rossi! Agent Reid! Silence! We really need to talk.

Agent Reid, answering to your veiled question...No, I was talking about something that happened after everyone left: Agents Morgan and Garcia scared Mrs Jareau and almost hurt her to gain entry to JJ's house. They were arrested and taken to jail. We know that they are convinced of Emily's guilt. I am worried that they will try something. Garcia was heard muttering to herself by the police. She was swearing, left and right, that she would destroy Emily's accounts and public profile. Obviously, this won't happen. Strauss is already blocking any access Garcia had to computers. I think we should call both JJ and Emily and try to discover what has happened."

Reid remained still, he was still trying to process these news. He could not believe Morgan and Garcia. How could they be so, so horrible? How could they want to hurt Mrs Jareau? She was so helpful and sweet. He noticed that both Hotch and Rossi were making phone calls. He tried to listen but he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen: Amy. He decided to answer and moved to a secluded spot to get some privacy.

"Hey Rose! Sorry for this morning but something came up. It seems that two of my team mates are angry and they want revenge. We are trying to figure out a way to protect Emily and find out the truth. Could you, I mean. Your mother is friends with Emily right? Might you investigate and try to learn the truth? If you were willing, obviously."

"Hey Spencer! I don't think I can get my mom to tell me Emily's secrets. She won't betray her trust, and I admire her for it. I can tell you that Emily would never go with her friend's partner. Then there is her sexuality: why would she sleep with a man when she is a lesbian? Spence, are you there?"

"Yes, I... this is only the second time I heard this about her. Why would she keep it a secret? Does she think I am untrustworthy? Or maybe that I am disgusted by her? Why?"

"Spencer, I don't believe she did it to hurt you. She loves you and trusts you. She was probably not ready to tell you guys for many different reasons. Listen I have to go. I am at my parents' house and I promised Amy that I would help her practice her softball moves. I will talk to you later okay? Love you"

"Say hi to Amy! Love you too. Bye!"

He closed his phone and joined the others again, he noticed the silence that surrounded Hotch and Rossi. Something must have happened, because they were pretty serious. He just hoped nothing else had happened.

They must have fallen asleep at some point. Emily woke up first, she looked around and noticed how close JJ's head was to her legs. She was thinking about the last few hours, about everything and nothing. They had talked about how they felt. She had finally told Jen about her feelings. She felt lighter. Her daughter was okay. She felt so at peace, but at the same time, she was so scared that JJ would wake up and think of this as a mistake. She was still lost in her musings, when she felt a hand intertwine with hers. That stopped her and made her look up. The sight she beheld was amazing. Two gorgeous blue eyes, still half closed from the sleep, stared straight into her eyes. A pair of lips was curled up into a genuine smile. Jenny was awake and, from the look of it, she was not regretting it. She must have been staring for a long time because JJ called her

"Em? What are you thinking of? Are you having regrets about last night? You seemed lost in space."

"Sorry. I was just contemplating your natural beauty. You really have no idea of how beautiful you really are. You should look at yourself: hair in a messy bun, no make up and sleepy eyes. Oh my god! You are even sexier than I thought humanly possible." JJ blushed to Em's words and was ready to rebut, when she heard phones ringing. She got up and went to answer her. The same happened to Emily: she got up, careful that she would not wake up Kenzie and went to answer her phone.

"Jareau speaking. Oh, hi mom! Is Henry okay? Good, good. Wait what? What did they do? Oh no! Did they hurt you? Mom do I have to get there now? Wait! That is better. Please be careful! Yes, I did talk with Emily. We decided to give us a try. No, we are at the hospital. Emily's daughter had her appendix removed last night. No, I learnt of her yesterday. But, mom, I already love her. She is part of Em. Okay, okay. Say hello to the tiny monster for me. I cannot thank you enough. I love you. Talk to you soon."

At the same time, right across the room, Emily answered

"Prentiss. Good morning Hotch. No I am at the hospital right now. No, no I am fine. I have a daughter and she had her appendix removed last night. I have been keeping her a secret because of our job and for other reasons I will tell you. I am deeply sorry, believe me when I say it. Anyway, if you called for a case I will have to refuse. No, I promise I won't interrupt you. They did WHAT? Oh My God! Are they crazy? Mmm JJ is here with me. Yes, it might be better if you came here. We are at Bethesda, 3 floor room 9. I will inform Jennifer of your arrival. Hotch, do I need to be worried? Okay I trust you. Bye"

She turned towards JJ and saw worry in her eyes. She didn't even need to ask because she knew that JJ had learnt of Garcia's and Morgan's audacity.

"Was that your mom? Is she ok?"

"Yeah, Henry and her are already out of town. She went to visit my aunt in New York. Will has flown home for the week. But what about your call. Was that Hotch? Did he tell you what happened? Did you tell him everything?"

"Yes, that was Hotch. No, I did not tell him that we were together, if that was your real question. I told him of McKenzie and I also told him that you were here. He just replied that he, and the others, would be getting here and they would explain it all." Emily moved closer to JJ and whispered

"Now, good morning wonderful." And she kissed JJ, just like the night before. She was enjoying the peace and serenity. They both knew that it was short lived, but they didn't care. They were kissing with no hurry to stop. Kenzie was asleep and the team wouldn't get there for at least a few more minutes. So they decided to enjoy themselves: they kissed, their tongues battling for dominance, while their hands explored necks and backs. They had to contain the fire burning in their souls. McKenzie was there and they could not start something they couldn't and wouldn't finish.


	9. Hidden truths come to light

Thank you all, for your wonderful reviews. I am sorry I am uploading it only on Monday. Unfortunately, because of the storms, I have been having problems with my internet connection. I only wanted to add one addendum to the story: it is AU so there will be differences in the characters. For the purpose of my story I put Emily's involvement in the Valhalla operation in between 1999 and 2001. Enjoy the chapter!

Garcia was pacing back and forth in the cell, she was beyond frustration now. She could not understand why they were making such a big fuss about her actions. She just pushed Sandy to get to the bottom of the story. She never wanted to hurt her, she just needed to make JJ see reason.

She sighed and turned to Morgan to vent her anger.

"No. Don't you start again Garcia. I am tired of your whining. You were wrong. I should have not listened to you. You roped me in your scheming, all I wanted was to see if JJ was fine." Morgan cut her off.

She was ready to rebut his veiled accusations when they heard footsteps nearing their cell. Two uniformed women moved to the cell talking animatedly and ignoring them.

Morgan observed their interaction and recognized one as a police officer, the other he could not place. The police officer was tall, almost like him, she had long red hair tied up in a loose ponytail. She seemed relaxed and easy going. The other one, instead, had shoulder-length wavy blond hair, she seemed a little more stoic and stuck up. She wore a suit so she could be a lawyer, but why? Was Sandy Jareau pressing charges? Was she a PM or someone sent by Hotch. Did the team know what had happened?

He couldn't read them and it scared him: he couldn't predict their actions. So he could not know what would happen to him and Garcia.

"Yeah, don't worry. I will get the afternoon off. I want to get on your brother's good side." Finished the police officer.

Then, she turned towards the cell and continued "Feds. I normally hate you 'coz you come in and take all the glory. But I don't like having you in a cell. You are still fellow agents. But this? What I heard is disturbing and disgusting! How could someone try to force its presents on a team mate? That is unacceptable!"

"When that team mate disappears and abandons her own wedding because of false knowledge... and they say she could even be a lesbian! That is disgusting" Morgan had tried to interrupt her rant, he knew she was digging a deeper grave. One thing was clear to him, and that was that the two women, who were keeping the keys to their freedom, were dating at the least.

Now? He was finally understanding that he had to save his skin because Garcia had no intention of saving herself. He immediately voiced his thoughts

"Shut up! You are only worsening it. Madams I am not responsible. All I wanted to do was talk to Agent Jareau, but only if she wanted to. I had no intention of doing what she did. Believe me, I would never hurt a woman, even when I do not approve of her choices."

Garcia was shocked. She thought Derek would back her up, like he always did. She loved him so much... why did her chocolate god throw her to the wolves? That made her stop fighting. She just awaited their sentence. She fell back on the ground and stared daggers at him.

The police officer had been ready to chew Garcia out on her statement, but his intervention summed with her girlfriends hand on her back, calmed her down. She took a deep breath and explained what would happen

"Your director and your chiefs have decided that spending a day here will do you good. They won't intervene until tomorrow or the day after. You are lucky. If it were for me, you would be staying inside for at least a week or a months. Especially you woman. You are disgusting. I cannot believe that you could betray so easily your friend. Agent Morgan, on the other hand, I admit that you found yourself in horrible circumstances, you might have had a completely different intention, but you got roped into her schemes. Today might do you good. If you need, we could move you to the other cell."

"If that is possible, I would prefer it. I already knew that we would stay. It's Sunday and today nobody would have come for us." Morgan answered honestly.

The officer called someone to help her and moved him to a different cell, talking to him in low voices. This made Garcia even madder: he was betraying her and she could not hear their conversation. She was so, so, so ... she could not even find a word to describe it. She slumped down against the wall and closed her eyes.

HOSPITAL ROOM:

Emily still thought she was in heaven: her angel was okay and JJ was here. She wasn't married and she wanted her. She loved her. How was it possible? She looked at the time, then turned towards Kenzie, but she was still sleeping. So she asked Jen if she could talk to her. The team was coming and she had to tell JJ some things first.

JJ had been thinking along similar lines, so she accepted the offer.

They moved towards the window and sat on the small couch. Em was scared, she didn't know if Jen would accept some of it. Her fear was evident because JJ took both of her hands and brought them to her lips. Then she moved a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She was mesmerized by Em's beauty. She got lost in admiration. She finally started talking

"Em, what is bothering you? You can tell me anything. I won't run. I swear I will not abandon you. Hey don't cry..." she kissed away her tears and waited patiently. She knew that whatever it was, must have been big.

Emily couldn't believe her luck. She took a long breath and started:

"You must be wondering about her father... she is turning 10 next month. I started working for the BAU seven years ago. You already know that the Valhalla operation finished in 2001. You do the math."

"You were pregnant when they got you out. Did you already know? Did you know that Doyle impregnated you? Is that why you asked out?"

"No, I learnt of it several weeks later. And I was so scared... my girlfriend decided that she could not trust me, I had been sleeping with someone else, and she didn't believe me that it was on the job. So I was alone, I couldn't talk to my mother, she would have made me marry someone, she could not have her only child with a child out of wedlock. I, I was alone. I did it all, but I was scared someone learnt of her and told Doyle."

"That's why you kept her a secret."

"Yes. But that's not all. You remember Matthew?"

"Your friend? The one that was murdered by his parents, with the exorcism, right?" Emily was having a hard time keeping her tears at bay. JJ was so understanding and she remembered so much about her, this scared her a little.

She went on "I never told anyone, except Rossi. Bear with me. There is a reason why his parents hated me so much. They think I was responsible for him turning to drugs and forgoing his faith. And they were right." She was openly crying now.

"No, Emily that is not true. How could they blame you?"

"Listen, please. Just let me finish. We were 15 when we met. My mother was posted in Rome, just like his and John's parents. We were the only three Americans at the international school, so we stick together. I was the newest and I had a really hard time being accepted." She paused before resuming

"I did many things to become part of the group. One was smoking and the other one, well. I wanted to be accepted and I knew that I could not let them learn of my sexual inclinations so I slept with John. I was young and did not think I could end up pregnant. Jenny I found out that I was expecting. I was alone because John asked me to get rid of it. My mother was always absent, I had already stopped talking to her and couldn't really tell her that. It would ruin her. I tried asking to the father of our church but he only admonished me that I would never be welcome back if I did the unthinkable. I was alone, scared, Matthew was with me when I went to a clinic. It hurt so much, but I had no other choices" she crumpled and hid her face behind her hands. Jennifer was shocked and sad. She was starting to understand so much about the hardship her beautiful Em had gone through. She threw her arms around Emily and comforted her. She whispered in her ear

"You did the only thing you could do. You are not responsible for his turning to drugs, you are not horrible. You deserve to be happy. Listen to me"

She made sure Emily was looking at her then continued

"You are so strong. I could never hate you for that. You are a mother and you deserve everything. Do you understand? Why do you think I would hate you? Wait. Rossi knows? What did he tell you? If he told you that you are not fit to be a mother...please look at him, he is old school. Don't you dare doubt yourself or my love okay?"

"Why are you so understanding? Anyways, there is something else. This is notike the other two, I promise. I am not sure I want to keep working at the BAU Jay. I am tired and I no longer trust some of them. I also want to spend more time with McKenzie. She is growing up so fast. I always wanted to have more children."

She gave Jay a moment to digest it.

Jennifer could see her line of thought and understood it. She wasn't ready to let go, but she would support Emily. She just hoped she wouldn't be leaving the city. That scared her

"I believe it might be there right choice for you. I am not ready, but I am behind you. But... did you receive any interesting offers?"

"Yes, Clyde called me."

"Easter? Are you evaluating moving to London?" That was terrifying JJ

"No, no wait! He said that I have been nominated as the perfect candidate to lead the Washington Interpol office. I would be the director of the office here."

"That is amazing! Look at you! Tell me you will accept it. Please! You would be one of the big guns of the Washington district." JJ was so excited

"Yeah, that is why I am thinking about it and not accepting immediately. Do you realize that my whole life would be under the light? Kenzie would be in it, you would be checked and Henry even. This is big. I want to accept, but I told him yesterday to give me some time."

"That is true. Will would need to be involved for Henry.

How much time did they give you?"

"Two weeks. I want to so much JJ but if we are really doing this. This between us, I have to think about all of us. I promise this was the last of it. Now, what happened to your mother?"

"Garcia tried to force entry and almost hurt my mom. I don't get it. I knew she was not happy. But to become violent? Why would she?" Emily's silence was making her think there was something else about Garcia.

"Em, what do you know about her?"

"I. This is hard, she is your best friend. She is against lesbians. I never came out because of her. I heard her talk to Kevin once saying that she could not understand how some women could be so deviated. That scared me. But maybe I am wrong, maybe..."

"No, stop. If you heard her saying it, I believe you. Oh My God! How could I not notice it? I have always been bi, she never said anything. That is why she was so adamant I get married! I cannot believe it! I was blind."

Emily put a hand on her shoulder and calmed her down: "You couldn't know. She is not important right now. We will deal with her together. Tell me what did your mother do?"

"Right. She took Henry and Will and went to our vacation home in Northern California. She wants us to go there as soon as Kenzie can be let go."

"Where? You have a house in California? Why did we not know about it?"

"It was never right. Something was blocking me. You guys will love it" She wanted to describe it to Em but heard the knock on the door.

"Can we come in?" Asked Hotch.

Emily looked at her as if to say: _it's time to face them_. And went to the door "hey guys! I know this must be surreal. I promise to tell you everything. And if then, I will answer any questions you might have. Especially you Reid."


	10. Making decisions part 2

Hi! One info about this chapter: Ambassador Prentiss makes her appearance. She will be slightly OC. She did help Emily with McKenzie. She was the child's legal tutor while Emily was hiding in Paris. Enjoy the chapter. I tried to make it slightly longer.

Emily looked at her as if to say: it's time to face them. And went to the door "hey guys! I know this must be surreal. I promise to tell you everything. And if then, I will answer any questions you might have. Especially you Reid."

They all understood where she was coming from, they were shocked and surprised but they wanted to learn the truth, and the only way to learn it, was to let her explain.

They had seen JJ but no one had the courage to ask.

Emily showed them towards the big window, where JJ remained unmoving. She checked McKenzie's covers and joined them.

She moved to stand beside Jennifer, she didn't want to appear too obvious, but she needed the comfort. What she needed to do was something difficult, which everyone understood. That's why they all smiled at her, encouraging her and showing their support.

She took a deep breath and started her tail, foregoing some details.

"You need to know that it was never my intention to keep my daughter a secret. We are here, by the way, because yesterday she had her appendix removed. They called me while I was at Rossi's. This is the reason why I left abruptly.

When I started working with you, she was only a toddler. You were weary of me because of my political connections and because of the shady way I joined your team, which I know now was not unfounded. But try to look it from my point of view: I was an outsider for the team. You looked at me as if I didn't belong there. I didn't want to make you see me as a weak mother. I always thought I would tell you after the resignation Fiasco. By then, I was part of the team, and I was ready to explain it all. Then, Matthew died. It hurt so much, JJ was on maternity leave and I could no longer rely on her presence. I was hurt by something someone had said. I decided to wait a little bit to reveal my status as a mother. Everything was getting better when I heard from my Interpol team. I learnt that Doyle was still alive and I knew I could never have others know of her. That degenerated quickly: I found out he had escaped and had killed Tsia and her fiancé. I decided to send McKenzie to my mother for protection and ran to Boston. You know what happened there. I ..."

"Wait! She never knew you were alive? Your daughter thought that her mother had died for 7 months?" Blurred out Reid, completely unaware that he sounded judgmental.

At the same time, Rossi covered Spencer's voice by saying his piece of mind "How could you risk your child? You should have never gone after him! That is no way to behave for a mother." Strauss, who was a mother and had been criticized multiple times admonished him immediately:"Agent Rossi! You have no right to be judging Emily. Or are you judging me too?"

Rossi looked into Erin's eyes and found only hurt, he then looked towards Emily and found mirroring feelings.

He shut up without apologizing, he knew Emily would feel it not true.

Emily felt hurt by Rossi. He, whom she always saw as a father figure, was saying she was not a good mother. She started losing hope and stopped trying to explain.

She didn't think they would believe her anymore but as soon as these thoughts entered her mind, she felt JJ wrap her arms around her midsection and put her head on her shoulder.

That is when she heard her voice address the others: "I can't believe you Dave! I never knew you to be so judgmental, especially considering your failed marriages. Anyways, I believe it's my turn to explain what happened. First of all, I made every choice on my own. Emily never influenced me. The only person who did have a say in my actions was Will. He is on my side. So, think before spouting your feelings and your critics. I have to admit something that I never said explicitly. I am bisexual, have always been. You might wonder why I said it. The truth is" she turned Emily's head towards her and kept going "The truth is, that I have been attracted to Emily since the beginning. But I thought she could never see me in that light so I started seeing Will. I never meant for it to become more than a long distance, but. But I fell pregnant and had Henry. From that moment I convinced myself that Henry needed my to be with his father so I started believing I had fallen in love with Will. I was so sure that I thought I was ready to bond with him forever. That was all a lie. A lie that I did not realize until last night. Emily had come to see me and help me when she abruptly left because of her feelings for me. That is the moment in which I saw the light and broke down. My mom and Will probably knew already my feelings and concocted up the blatant lie they fed you guys. Will never cheated on me, but I didn't know how to broach my true feelings with you before discussing everything with Em."

She waited a few seconds, just to let them mull over her words. Then, she made a spur-of-the-moment choice, and declared what they were all expecting, but at the same time, still not ready to hear.

"Will and I have separated amicably and we will remain friends for Henry. But I am starting a new journey with Emily. We want to see where our feelings can take us. This means that we have every intention of pursuing a love relationship.

If someone has problems we are ready to leave the team." She concluded strongly.

She knew she might have come off as pretentious but she needed them to understand that they were serious and this was not a joke.

Spencer Reid needed to voice his opinion before the others, so he talked to Emily and surprised everyone with his easiness:

"Emily. Do you love JJ?"

"Yes, I do. With all of my heart"

He kept asking "Do you promise to never hurt her and to cherish her and Henry always?"

Confused about this line of thoughts, she answered sincerely "No. I cannot promise that because I cannot see into the future. What I can promise is that I will never intentionally hurt her and I will always love both her and Henry as if he were my own, just like she will probably do with McKenzie."

Reid smiled for the first time and nodded to her, satisfied by her answer.

They were all waiting with baited breath Strauss' and Hotch's reactions. Both Em and JJ knew already that There would be no problems because Emily could change job. She was scared though. She had no idea if she would have problems on the team by coming out.

Emily was thinking that she would accept Clyde's offer and, if it all went wrong, she would help Jen get other jobs. She knew that she could never work with Rossi again, after his accusations.

Before either JJ or Emily could start really fearing of their bosses' reactions, they heard Strauss capture everyone's attention.

"Agent Jareau, Agent Prentiss! I think I can talk for everyone on the chain when I say that this is unexpected. I do understand that the team has always had a great chemistry. That is something I won't dismiss. I do know that there is nothing that makes your relationship illegal, except for the risk of getting hurt. So I am willing to let you stay on and be on probation for six months. At the same time, there is the matter of trust and what happened last night with your colleagues. Have you heard about Garcia and Morgan?"

"I talked to my mom this morning, she told me that Garcia got violent because she refused to let her in. She did say that Morgan was gentle in his words and he never scared her. What exactly happened? Do you know what is going on with Garcia? Emily told me that she heard Garcia tell Kevin that she is homophobic? I never pegged her for someone like that. She never badmouthed lesbians or gay people." JJ was rambling and getting angrier by the minute, only Emily's hand was soothing her.

Hotch talked for the first time and answered JJ.

"I was surprised by her behavior too. I never imagined she could be so radical. What I can tell you is that she has said multiple times those things in jail. She screamed at the police officer. Morgan asked for a different cell, just to get as far away as possible from her.

What I know is that I find myself in a quandary." He wanted to say more but Emily blocked him.

"Hotch, you told me that I could talk to you. I need to tell you something. I received a new job offer from Interpol."

"No Emily! You cannot move to England. JJ tell her she cannot." Reid was already scared, he needed her near them, but most of all, he needed her.

JJ talked over him saying "Wait and listen! She is not leaving, and even if she was, I would never prohibit her from advancing in her career." This shocked them all.

"No! You needn't worry. The job offer is here. Let me finish! Easter offered me to become the Chief of the Interpol office in Washington D.C. I am still thinking about it. I need to learn all the details before deciding. But I am probably going to accept. That does not mean that I will disappear. I will still be in DC, but I will have more time at home with Kenzie. So Hotch, don't worry."

Hotch accepted her word and told her that he understood.

"I can understand Emily. You are doing what is right for yourself and your family. Let me know as soon as you decide. JJ what about you?"

"I don't know. I am not saying that I want to leave. I will think about it all. I do need to ask you something. I was supposed to have three weeks off. Can I ask for two and add Emily in the deal?"

"Maybe it's for the best, if both of you take two weeks off. Anyways, we understand your reasons Emily. I forgive you for your choices. As a parent, I get it."

Rossi decided to talk second "I understand, I might not like them and it might take me some time to forgive you, that does not mean that I cannot wait to meat this mini you." This made all of them laugh.

Spencer was happy and made it known "I want to know everything! You will need to tell me what she likes to read so I can get her some books."

"Thank you Spencer! You will be surprised by her."

"Agent Prentiss. You amaze me every day. What you have done to protect your daughter is astonishing and unbelievable. I admire your strength and promise to make sure you and your child are always protected." This surprised all, except for Rossi, who already knew this side of her.

Hotch talked again, with a serious tone "Let me know if you need anything. We are sorry, but we have to leave and go see Morgan and Garcia."

"You will let us know, won't you? I am sorry, you cannot meet her properly, but she is going to sleep away most of the day, at least this is what the doctor said." Emily turned to look at her baby, who was lying on the bed asleep, feeling a mix of emotions by exposing her to everyone. She felt like a mama bear with her cub.

After promising to keep them informed, the team left. As they closed the door, they turned towards each other and let go. Emily attacked JJ's lip with so much fervor. JJ was not far behind. Both were releasing pent up emotions from the previous conversation. They knew they could not touch base 3 or 4 because they were in a hospital room and they had a small child with them, even if she was asleep. But they still enjoyed some peace before McKenzie woke up and demanded explanations.

ON THEIR WAY TO THE PRECINCT

The guys were in the car, driving towards the county prison. No one said a word. They all knew that they were still mulling over Emily's and JJ's reasons. They knew now that they had both made choices that influenced them all, but they also seemed sincere in their affections and true to their feelings. They knew that Emily was not responsible for JJ's decisions. Will was innocent and no one cheated on anybody, well at least physically.

They got into the parking lot and parked easily. They still kept silent, almost to avoid coming back to the matter on their hands: talking with Morgan and Garcia.

They entered and Hotch broke the silence by asking: "My name is SSA Hotchner, here with me are SSA Rossi, doctor Reid and Chief Strauss. I am looking for the agents responsible for apprehending Agents Morgan and Garcia. Are they here? We'd like to talk to them." As calmly and as politely as possible, as to not anger them. He knew the police's aversion to FBI agents.

One agent was passing by and heard their request. He rounded the desk to get to them and answered Hotch's questions.

"My name is Officer Adam Lennow and I was with my partner Officer Amanda Kiley when we had to intervene to protect Mrs Jareau. Agent Morgan did nothing to antagonize us, while Miss Garcia tried to resist arrest. She made everything worse when she insulted both my partner and her girlfriend.

I wonder...has she always been so scary? She tried to blackmail us by telling us she would destroy our financial records and obliterate us. She can't do that, can she?" He asked petrified and shivered at the thought. When he saw that they weren't answering understood the truth behind those threats.

He started again, so he could avoid thinking about that. "My partner is talking with Agent Morgan right now. I can show you the way."

"Thank you Officer. Don't worry. We will never let Garcia do anything damaging to yourself or to any of your colleagues. You have nothing to worry about. That I can promise." Hotch retorted. Hotch managed to calm the officer down and made a sign for the rest of the team to follow him. They went with him to the back of the precinct, towards the interrogation rooms. All the while, he thought about life, about every moment spent as a team, wondering how he could have missed it all: signs of Garcia's homophobic views and signs of affection between Prentiss and Jareau. When did they start? Did Haley notice? Is that the reason she stopped seeing Emily as an enemy?

He kept thinking about it all, recalling past moments, until they got to the viewing room where they could listen to Morgan's questioning.

BACK AT THE HOSPITAL

They couldn't stop kissing. They loved the feel of the other so close. They enjoyed these little moments. At one point, they heard someone enter the room without knocking, so they stopped. They heard someone clear their voice and speak out:

"Hem, hem. Is McKenzie going to be okay? Emily I was so scared when the director of the FBI called me and explained, as best as he could, what had happened between you and the rest of the team." Ambassador Prentiss asked Emily. She then turned to look at Agent Jareau and said softly: "Good Morning Agent Jareau!"

"Mother! I didn't know they would call you. I didn't want to take you away from your duties. Everything went well as she is in recovery. I am so so sorry." Emily rambled on, scaring both her mother and JJ.

"Emily stop! I am not angry. Listen to me, I came because I heard what happened last night, and I came. By the way, Agent Jareau, I hope your mother is fine and Henry was not scared by your friend and colloeague."

"She is fine thank you ma'am, and so is my son. They left for our vacation home in California earlier this morning."

"Excuse me, Ms Prentiss, how is McKenzie today?" Asked the doctor, while she came into the room. She then addressed Emily: "I am deeply sorry, but I need to wake your daughter up to assess her."

Emily nodded and moved to wake her up gently. In the meanwhile, Ambassador Prentiss asked something of JJ

"Ms Jareau, I was wondering if you could accompany me to the cafeteria to get a coffee and something to eat. While we go, might I enquirer about your intentions with my daughter?"

Before JJ could answer verbally, Emily exclaimed "Mother! JJ you don't need to go. She is just being noisy."

JJ ignored Emily and answered affirmatively the Ambassador. Emily tried to interject, but, before she could utter another word, her mother and JJ had already left. She didn't have time to think about what they could talk about, so she went back to the task at hand: waking up her sleeping daughter.


	11. Making decisions part 3

I am sorry for the delay, but I had a busy week. I wanted to say two things: the chapter is short and I am sorry but I preferred uploading this one instead of waiting another week, second thing, I found a mistake in naming a character. The right name of one of the two sitters for McKenzie is Stella and not Sylvia. I am deeply sorry, anyways...enjoy the chapter.

The Ambassador had a sprint in her step that made her look younger. This is the first thing JJ noticed when they left the room to move towards the cafeteria. The second thing was that this woman was calm and serene. She wasn't trying to intimidate her, even if she should have been. JJ knew she had screwed up and that she deserved Elizabeth's Prentiss hate. She had hurt her daughter time and time again.

Elizabeth was stoic as always but she could feel Agent's Jareau weariness. She knew she could try to alleviate JJ's troublesome thoughts, but she wanted her to sweat for her acceptance. In the end she did hurt her only child. Yes, she knew that JJ was not doing it intentionally. That was the only reason she was even trying to get to know her.

They walked, each one absorbed in their own thoughts, until they reached the cafeteria.

The Ambassador broke the silence and asked: "What would you like Agent Jareau?"

She answered promptly "a long black and a slice of New York cheesecake, but I will pay."

"I invited you, I will pay and that is it!" Then, she turned towards the counter and ordered:

"A long black, am espresso a Black Forest slice of cake and a New York slice of cheesecake thank you."

"It's 17 dollars Ma'am"

She took the money out and gave him 20 dollars and said "keep the change"

"Thank you, Ma'am. You can choose a table and we will bring you your order."

Both of the women thanked him and moved to a more secluded table, right at the back of the cafeteria. They chose it so they could have their privacy during their necessary confrontation.

The moved to sit down, with JJ giving precedence of choice over the seat to the Ambassador and they sat. They sat down and looked towards each other to see who would start. The apology or the accusations.

MCKENZIE'S ROOM

Emily, after watching the two most important adults in her life walk away, she closed the door and moved to the bed. She leaned down and whispered in Kenzie's ear "wake up baby. The doctor needs to examine you. My angel I promise you that it will be quick, then you can go back to sleep. The doctor needs you awake, just for a few minutes."

"I want to sleep mommy."

"I know baby. Just a few minutes, then you can go back to sleep." She turned towards the doctor and looked for confirmation, which she received.

"Hello McKenzie! I promise I will be as quick as I can, and then, you will be able to sleep a little longer. Now, can you tell me how much it hurts from 1 to 10?"

"4 or 5 I guess?"

"You are a tough one, aren't you? Anyways that is astonishing! Unfortunately you are still young and we couldn't give you too many painkillers. But you are doing great. Do you feel nausea?"

"No, I think not."

"Good, good... does it itch a lot? We tried to make a tiny cut."

"A little bit. When can I go home? I miss my bed"

"Unfortunately you won't be going home, at least for now. I am sorry but you had surgery during the night. If and if you feel better in 2 or 3 days and it's a great IF. We might decide to let you go home. Now I will check you over for a minute to see how well you are."

She checked her over and seemed satisfied...I want you to rest today okay? No trying to go to the bathroom." Then, the doctor turned towards Emily and put her hand on her arm, right as JJ and Elizabeth were coming back into the room.

If looks could have killed, the doctor would have been already dead. JJ was showing a jealous streak. She never thought of herself as jealous, now though, she couldn't help but be that kind of woman. How could she not? Emily was a woman to die for. She was getting annoyed at her. Why wasn't she reacting fast? She wanted to keep glaring at her for the rest of her life. Something, though, distracted her: it was McKenzie's voice. She was calling her grandma excitedly.

"Grandma! Grandma! You came!"

"Of course, I did. Darling you scared me! Never do something like that again. Okay?"

"Sorry grandma. Did you know that the doctor is called like Harry Potter? She must come from Hogwarts! Isn't she pretty? Grandma, she is perfect for mommy." She didn't know that her mom and JJ were together. She had no idea about the chaos she was creating.

Emily needed a few seconds to focus on the words of her sweet girl. The moment she did, she immediately told Kenzie: "Baby you cannot day things like that! I am sorry Doctor Potter! She doesn't know what she is saying"

She said looking directly at Doctor Potter.

"Don't worry! No offense, she is just a child. Now if you excused me, I need to finish my rounds." She said bye to all. JJ visibly relaxed and moved to stand beside Emily. She showed all her jealousy by hugging her possessively from behind. Doctor Potter went to the door to leave. Right as she clutched the door knob, she turn and surprised everyone by saying "Anyone would be lucky to have a date with you, you are really beautiful. If I knew you were single, I would ask you out as soon as she was discharge. But I would be killed by your partner. Agent Jareau, right? You are lucky, I hope you know it." With that she turned around and promptly left the room, leaving Emily shocked and JJ blushing profoundly.

AT THE POLICE STATION

"Agent Morgan, what were you doing at Agent's Jareau house last night?" Officer Adam Lennow asked him.

"I went to see if JJ, I mean Agent Jareau, if she was okay. She had just decided to not get married. I only wanted to talk to her."

"And then you got angry, isn't it right?"

"Yes, no! I was getting annoyed, but I never would have hurt Mrs Jareau. I would never knowingly hurt a woman."

"Okay, let's leave it for now. Did you or did not bring your colleague Penelope Garcia with you?"

"Yes, I did."

"You admit to bringing her there, knowing fully well that she would hurt Mrs Jareau"

"No! No! NOO! I didn't know she could hurt her. She has always been the most sensible and the sweetest of us. How could I know that she would become so violent. I swear I didn't know. Please believe me."

"I believe you. Mrs Jareau told us a similar story. We just wanted to double check. Now, do you know anything about this anger, Garcia showed yesterday?"

"Thank you. Yes, what I understood is that she started getting angry when I mentioned that Emily was in love with JJ. From there it degenerated. She started sprouting non sense about how Emily is the devil and horrible things about homosexuality. I never saw her so obtuse and homophobic. She always seemed open. That made her snap. She changed into a completely different woman. She is not the Garcia I know."

"Thank you for you help. I will leave you here five minutes to talk to my superior. Then, we'll see what will happen." Said the officer before leaving.

Morgan didn't know that his team mates had been right behind the glass, listening to his interview.

"Agent Hotchner. Did you hear? I think he was sincere."

"Officer Lennow, what will happen now?"

"He is not being charged, we wanted to ask him those questions, but then, we had every intention of releasing him. Unless you think otherwise."

"No, of course not. Can he come with us now?"

"Yes, he might be called to testify again, but for now he may leave."

The officer moved back to the other room and informed Agent Morgan that he was free to leave with his team.

Morgan was shocked, he was being released and the others had heard his answers. Did they hate him? He never wanted something bad to happen. He looked up and saw Hotch leaning on the doorframe.

"Morgan, move your ass. We have a lot to talk about. The others are waiting outside for us." Declared Hotchner, before signaling Morgan to follow him out. Morgan followed him quietly. He knew he was in deep shit this time.

They got to the front of the precinct and all he heard was "Goodbye Officers. If you need anything, call me. When you decide to interrogate Garcia, I will be hear. Have a nice day!"

They left the place and moved to join the others by the cars. Morgan felt terrible. Rossi, Reid and Strauss were giving him the look. They looked at him like he was no longer trustworthy, and that, that hurt the most. He was already thinking about the ways, in which, he could regain their trust. JJ's and Emily's absence was noticed immediately. He felt worse, they were the ones he hurt the most. He wondered why they were not there. He wanted to say a thousand times that he was sorry, but the looks they sen this way, made him shut up and enter the car silently. Hoping that everything could go back to the way things were. He would learn soon enough that that would never be possible.


End file.
